Optical components are used in a wide range of products: microscopes, telescopes, cameras, eyeglasses and other ophthalmic devices, mirrors, etc. The supply chain usually involves manufacturers, eventually distributors, intermediaries, wholesalers, retailers and finally the end customer. The manufacturer provides customized and/or standardized optical blanks which are distributed to intermediaries which further process the optical blanks and integrate them into the final product which via wholesalers and retailers is delivered to the consumer.
Communication between different members of the supply chain as well as internal communication at each supply chain member requires the optical blanks to be identifiable. Communication may for example involve ordering, selection, delivery, inventory and/or retrieval processes.
Each optical blank is characterized through a set of lens parameters. Lens parameters comprise geometrical parameters, such as e.g. thickness and weight, optical parameters such as e.g. refractive index and Abbe value, or other lens parameters, such as e.g. expiration date and manufacturer name. Lens parameters comprise, but are not limited to, the parameters specified in the Vision Council Lens Description Standard, Version 2.1, July 2014. Typically, a fixed set of lens parameters together with a nominal value for each of these lens parameters together with an admissible deviation from the nominal value for each of these lens parameters is used to define a lens blank type. The definition of a lens blank type may differ between manufacturers.
To increase efficacy of the lens supply chain, between members as well as at each member, prior art document WO 2015/004208 A1 discloses a lens supply system for providing ophthalmic lenses with improved lens picking performance and/or lens manufacturing performance by providing the lens blank with an identifier wherein the identifier allows the subsequent retrieval of at least one geometrical parameter of the lens blank. In particular, the identifier allows the subsequent retrieval of the measured value of the at least one geometrical parameter instead of the nominal value of the at least one geometrical parameter.
It is common knowledge that products provided with optical components can be manufactured in a comparably time-saving and inexpensive way by printing the optical components directly on an appropriate substrate by using droplet-on-demand (DOD) inkjet printing technologies. Suchlike imprinted optical components comprise lenses, in particular ophthalmic lenses, mirrors or retroreflectors, for instance. The substrate can be made of synthetic material or glass. Furthermore, curing the imprinted material by using light irradiation for reducing the overall printing time is a well-known technique. For example, prior art documents EP 2 631 686 A1, EP 2 636 531 A1, EP 2 846 982 A1, EP 2 846 983 A1 and EP 2 846 984 A1 explain in detail how suchlike printing processes can be implemented.